The fuel tank fire that's been raging for 3 days in Brazil is spreading

Smoke rises from a fire at a fuel tank storage facility run by Ultracargo in Santos near Sao Paulo April 2, 2015. Paulo Whitaker/Reuters RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A fire at a fuel storage facility run by Ultracargo near Santos, Brazil's largest port, spread further on Saturday as it entered its third day despite firefighters' efforts to contain the flames.

Eighty firefighters were battling a fire at a fuel tank storage facility run by Ultracargo near Brazil's port of Santos, Latin America's largest, the local fire service said on Thursday. Paulo Whitaker/Reuters

The fire spread to a nearby tank filled with gasoline, according to a statement from Ultracargo, which is owned by Grupo Ultra. There were no casualties, it said.

Six tanks have been hit so far and four of them were still burning.

America's largest, the local fire service said on Thursday. The company said there had been no victims from the fire and it was too early to say what had caused it. Paulo Whitaker/Reuters

Explosions were heard at the facility on Thursday morning, swiftly turning into a blaze that sent a thick column of black smoke into the air. Environmental authorities were monitoring the air quality in nearby cities affected by the smoke.

Smoke rises from a fire at a fuel tank storage facility run by Ultracargo in Santos Thomson Reuters

Firefighters said there was little they could do to extinguish the flames before all the fuel was consumed. Instead, they focused on dousing nearby tanks to keep the fire from spreading.

"The battle is very difficult," they said on their official Twitter account.

The fire started at around 10 a.m. local time (1300 GMT), the fire service said on Twitter, adding that 22 fire trucks and one boat were involved in trying to control it. Paulo Whitaker/Reuters

Traffic was diverted around the site of the blaze, blocking one of the roads to the port. Trucks carrying soybeans and other commodities were still able to access the port via a second entrance, a spokeswoman for the local CET traffic engineering company said on Friday.